A
Pride-fi lled
Holliday
Jennifer Holliday to
headline festival’s
amphitheater stage
JEREMY WILLIAMS Legendary songstress Jennifer
Holliday fi rst hit the
Broadway stage 40 years ago
when—at the age of 19—she
landed a role in the production
of “Your Arms Too Short to Box
with God.” That performance got
Holliday her fi rst Drama Desk
nomination, but it was her next role
that would make her a star.
Holliday originated the role of
Effi e White in the Tony Awardwinning
musical “Dreamgirls.” Her
critically-acclaimed performance,
highlighted by her iconic rendition
of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not
Going,” earned Holliday her own
Tony Award in 1982, as well as a
Drama Desk and Theater World
award.
Holliday’s recording of “And I
Am Telling You I’m Not Going” was
released as a single and earned the
singer a Grammy Award in 1983.
She remained with “Dreamgirls” on
Broadway until it closed in 1985.
Over the course of her career, Holliday has
recorded nine studio albums, had four singles on
the Billboard Hot 100 and landed at No. 1 three
times on the U.S. Dance charts.
Holliday has returned to the Broadway stage
twice since her departure from “Dreamgirls.”
In 2001, she played Matron Mama Morton in
“Chicago” and in 2016 she played Shug Avery in
the musical adaptation of “The Color Purple.”
In a 2019 interview with the Miami Herald,
Holliday stated that she does not consider
herself an activist, rather a singer fi rst and
foremost who uses her voice “to spread love and
healing and hope and comfort.”
“The LGBTQ community has really been
my biggest fan base and has loved me
unconditionally. ... I really owe this community
everything,” she said.
You can see her give everything during her
Come Out With Pride concert at the Walt
Disney Amphitheater at Lake Eola on Oct. 12.